Anything in BLUE goes in your notes

1. Anything inBLUEgoes in your notes

2. Mesopotamia • In Greek, this means, “Land between the rivers.” • The Tigris and Euphrates • Mesopotamia is located in the present-day country of IRAQ.

3. Why did people settle in Mesopotamia? • The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers deposited (dropped) silt making Mesopotamia a great place for farming. • Silt is loose soil and plant matter carried by the water. • Food is the most important thing to have if you want to survive.

5. Successful Farmers • Farmers learned how to grow many different crops like • Wheat, barley, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, apples and pomegranate • Farmers dug ditches and filled them with water from the river so they could easily water their crops. This is called IRRIGATION.

6. SUMER • Sumer was an area in southern Mesopotamia where many great cities were found. • This region contributed many things to all human beings. • These contributions are called LEGACIES.

7. LEGACIES OF MESOPOTAMIA • WHEEL and WHEELED VEHICLES • IRRIGATION SYSTEM • POTTERY WHEEL • SAILBOAT • Developed MATH & SCIENCE ideas • CUNEIFORM • PLOW • A SCRIBE was an official writer. A scribe would study for years to learn how to write

8. Writing in Mesopotamia

9. The people of Mesopotamia wrote in CUNEIFORM - wedge shaped lines

11. Cuneiform means wedge shaped. These are the cuneiform symbols for “fallen star”

12. Cuneiform began as pictures used to represent objects but as people began to write faster the pictures began to simplify and they turned into symbols.

14. Watch the following video, told from a Mesopotamian girl’s point of view, for all the reasons they used cuneiform. • Make a list in your notebook

15. As you are watching, list the reasons they used cuneiform.

16. What did you find?

17. CUNEIFORM – Mesopotamia was the first civilization to use writing.This was a system of lines and shapes.Laws, letter, records and stories were written using Cuneiform

18. Religion in Mesopotamia • The ancient Mesopotamians believed in many gods. • They had a god for the sun, a god for wind, a god for fresh water, a god for salt water, a god for air, a god for the moon, a god for love and war, etc. etc. • Each city-state had a god they was a special protector • Each family had their own personal god • WOW. They had a lot of gods!!! • Polytheism is the belief in many gods.

19. Religion • The Mesopotamians believed in many gods. • Each city-state had both their own king and their own gods. • Every family had their own gods that they prayed to. The belief in many gods is called POLYTHEISM POLY = “many” THEISM = “belief”

21. There is one more important thing that was written in Mesopotamia…

22. Let me start by asking you a question:

23. How do we know what is legal or illegal? • Talk to a partner…

24. Having written laws is important. It wasn’t always like this. Here are some silly examples:

25. Anyone wearing white socks today loses a point off their final average. If you drive over the speed limit, you will have your car taken away.

26. Is this fair? • Why not???

27. ONE leader from Mesopotamia is credited with changing this. His name is Hammurabi.

28. THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

29. These are the first known written laws

30. Hammurabi had these laws placed in all the cities so everyone would know the laws (and so there could be no excuses).

31. Let’s take a look at some of these laws.

33. Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi (about 1800 B.C.) So that the strong may not oppress the weak; to give justice to the orphan and the widow, I have inscribed my precious words: The following are a few of Hammurabi’s laws with respect to punitive (punishment) responsibilities: • If a Freeman has put out the eye of another Freeman, they shall put out his eye. • If he breaks the bone of another Freeman, they shall break his bone. • If he puts out the eye of a Poor Man, or breaks the bone of a Poor Man, he shall pay 1 mina of silver. If he puts out the eye of the Slave of another Free Man, he shall pay half this price. • Should a builder build a house so poorly that it collapses on its owner, and the owner dies, the builder shall be put to death. • A son who strikes his father shall lose his fingers. • If a patient dies after surgery, the surgeon shall lose his hand. • If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition…if then the dam breaks and all the fields be flooded; then shall he be sold for money [as a slave], and the money shall replace the corn which he has ruined.

34. What are some things that we notice about these laws? Let’s take a closer look:

35. According to the first paragraph, what is the PURPOSE of the code? The purpose of the code is:

36. “If he breaks the bone of another Freeman, they shall break his bone.” “If a Freeman has put out the eye of another Freeman, they shall put out his eye.” This kind of justice is known as “eye for an eye” justice

37. What does “eye for an eye justice” mean? Put it in your own words:

38. What about the other laws? What do we learn from a closer look at the last two laws in that excerpt?

39. Let’s write a few “eye for an eye” laws for school:

40. Your homework:Write 3 “eye for an eye” laws that would work for your family Perhaps it would be helpful to think of the things that people complain about in your house